North Korea announced that it plans to finalize its attack plan for Guam in a few days:

North Korea Threatens Attack Plan for Guam by Mid-August

August 10, 2017

General Kim Rak Gyom, the commander of the North’s strategic rocket forces, told the state-run KCNA news agency Thursday that “sound dialogue” is not possible with President Trump, calling him a man “bereft of reason” and that “only absolute force can work on him.”

General Kim also told KCNA that military leaders would finalize a plan by mid-August to fire four midrange missiles known as Hwasong-12 rockets toward the U.S. western Pacific territory of Guam, home to sizable U.S. Air Force and Navy facilities. After passing over Japan, they would be expected to land in waters 30 to 40 kilometers off the shores of Guam.

State media KCNA said the plan, unusual in its level of detail, will then go to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and “wait for his order,” according to General Kim.

Guam is home to about 163,000 people; 7,000 of them are U.S. military personnel. …

U.S. defense chief Jim Mattis … warned that the U.S. and its allies “now possess the most precise, rehearsed and robust defensive and offensive capabilities on Earth.” He said any North Korean military operation “will continue to be grossly overmatched by ours and would lose any arms race or conflict it initiates.” …

Guam’s governor, Eddie Calvo, is voicing support for President Trump’s stern warning to North Korea, telling Fox News “I want a president that says that.”

“As far as I’m concerned, as an American citizen, I want a president that says that if any nation such as North Korea attacks Guam, attacks Honolulu, attacks the west coast, that they will be met with hell and fury,” Calvo said late Wednesday during an interview on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” with fill-in host Brian Kilmeade.

“This is similar to Hawaii,” he added. “So it’s important that as we make decisions that those folks that are in a position of leadership that they understand, too, that war is the last option because not only will tens of thousands of American military forces and dependents be affected by a regional war but because the western Pacific has American soil in it, a couple hundred thousand Americans could get caught in the cross hairs.”

A North Korea military spokesman said Wednesday the country would strike Guam, which is home to more than 7,000 military members and their families, if the United States provokes North Korea, according to North Korean state media.Calvo said that he’s confident in Guam’s defense capabilities based on multiple briefings with the military.

While the USA certainly is expected to defend Guam, that does not mean that there would not be any loss of life or property.

Although Guam’s Governor Calvo liked Donald Trump’s words, North Korea had some negative comments about the US President:

10 August 2017

In another escalation of strong rhetoric, Pyongyang has accused US President Donald Trump of being “bereft of reason.” Both Japan and South Korea have warned the North over its latest threats to the US territory of Guam.

North Korea’s military on Thursday described overt threats from US President Donald Trump as a “load of nonsense,” marking another uptick in strong rhetoric increasing tensions between Washington and Pyongyang.

“Sound dialogue is not possible with such a guy bereft of reason and only absolute force can work on him,” the military said in comments carried by state-run news agency KCNA.

And yes, this is a dangerous game. Notice from ZeroHedge about the current situation:

August 10, 2017

“Realistically, war has to be avoided,” said John Delury, an assistant professor of international studies at Yonsei University in South Korea. “When you run any analysis, it’s insanity.”

Insanity or not, as Capital Economics writes in a May 17 note, while the most important impact of a full-scale conflict on the Korean peninsula “would be a massive loss of life” but added that there would also be significant economic consequences. While we focus on the latter below, first here are some big picture observations courtesy of Bloomberg, including an analysis of whether all out war can be avoided:

Can’t the U.S. try a surgical strike?

It probably wouldn’t work well enough. North Korea’s missiles and nuclear facilities are dispersed and hidden throughout the country’s mountainous terrain. Failing to hit them all would leave some 10 million people in Seoul, 38 million people in the Tokyo vicinity and tens of thousands of U.S. military personnel in northeast Asia vulnerable to missile attacks — with either conventional or nuclear warheads. …

Why might Kim go nuclear?

“Even a limited strike” by the U.S. “would run the risk of being understood by the North Koreans to be the beginning of a much larger strike, and they might choose to use their nuclear weapons,” said Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia nonproliferation program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. …

Is regime change an option?

New leadership wouldn’t necessarily lead to a new way of thinking among North Korea’s leadership. … Moreover, if Kim somehow were targeted for removal, the ruling clique surrounding him would have to go as well — making for a very long kill list. …

Does that mean all-out war is the best U.S. option?

A full-scale invasion would be necessary to quickly take out North Korea’s artillery as well as its missile and nuclear programs. Yet any sign of an imminent strike — such as a buildup of U.S. firepower, mobilization of South Korean and Japanese militaries and the evacuation of American citizens in the region — could prompt North Korea to strike preemptively. China and Russia may also be sucked in. …

How might North Korea retaliate?

The most immediate reaction would likely be massive artillery fire on Seoul and its surroundings. …

What options remain on the table?

Many analysts say it’s time to start talks to prevent the situation from worsening.

North Korea’s conventional forces, which include 700,000 men under arms and tens of thousands of artillery pieces, would be able to cause immense damage to the South Korean economy. If the North was able to set off a nuclear bomb in South Korea, the consequences would be even greater …

South Korea accounts for around 2% of global economic output. A 50% fall in South Korean GDP would directly knock 1% off global GDP. But there would also be indirect effects to consider. The main one is the disruption it would cause to global supply chains …

The impact of the war on the US economy would likely be significant. …

Reconstruction after the war would be costly. … The US, a key ally of South Korea, would likely shoulder a large share of the costs. The US spent around US$170bn on reconstruction after the most recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. South Korea’s economy is roughly 30 times larger than these two economies combined. If the US were to spend proportionally the same amount on reconstruction in Korea as it did in Iraq and Afghanistan, it would add another 30% of GDP to its national debt. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-08-09/under-any-analysis-it%E2%80%99s-insanity-what-war-north-korea-could-look

But the above missed several other items to point out.

Such as?

A vengeful North Korea may have operatives try to detonate nuclear bombs, electromagnetic pulse weapons, and/or dirty bombs. North Korea may attempt to unleash chemical and/or biological weapons against the USA, South Korea, Japan, and/or Guam.

North Korea’s leaders may well decide that if they are attacked that they should attempt to cause the most damage possible.

Prophetically, we are in the time that Jesus referred to as the “beginning of sorrows”:

4 “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24:4-8)

Yet, the end is not yet. Why? Because other events in the Bible, such as those that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24:9-20 have not happened yet (see also When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2017, 2018, or 2019?). Jesus spoke of a time of troubles prior to the Great Tribulation (Mark 13:8) and we seem to be in it.

We could be at or near the time of the ride of the red horseman of the apocalypse.

Notice what Jesus had the Apostle John record:

3 When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come and see.” 4 Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword. (Revelation 6:3-4)

The specter of war is haunting the world right now. And though we expect, after conflict, to see temporary peace in places like the Middle East (cf. Daniel 9:27; see also The ‘Peace Deal’ of Daniel 9:27), many are preparing for war.

The fact is that the 6000 years God gave humankind to rule itself is about to come to an end. Because of that, we are to expect wars, rumors of wars, and various sorrows. And then the end of the nations of the USA and its Anglo-Saxon allies once the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jeremiah 30:7), the great tribulation (Matthew 24:21), begins.